A good leader knows how to empower, enable and inspire people, former Canadian Forces General Rick Hillier told local business leaders Tuesday.
“If you remember that your job is to inspire people to want and come and be a part of your organization … to want to belong to your company, you’re going to be okay,” said Hillier, who delivered the keynote speech during the Brampton Board of Trade annual general meeting held at Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Centre, 30 Peel Centre Dr.
Hillier knows a thing or two about leadership. He led troops on missions around the world, including a stint in Afghanistan, before serving for a time as Canadian Forces Chief of Defence.
And it was through his work in the military that Hillier said he discovered how to get the most out of his people.
He urged business leaders to concentrate on people, not process, in order to get the best results.
“If you focus on the people, then you could use tools like technology and tools like process and tools like organization in an intelligent manner,” Hillier told the more than 150 that gathered. “If you don’t get the people part right, those tools can actually drag you down because it will become a product of itself.”
Touching on his experience in Afghanistan, Hillier spoke at length about the importance of optimism.
He said in Canada people have many reasons to be optimistic.
He compared life in Canada to life in Afghanistan. Here, children complain about having to go to school, whereas in Afghan villages, the children ask soldiers for pencils and books because they want to learn, but have no schools.
“We (Canadians) have plenty of reasons to be optimistic,” Hillier said.
Optimism, or what he called the “combat multiplier”, manifests itself when individuals show passion for what they do. That passion, in turn, transfers to others who then want to perform.
He said a good leader is there for people during the good days and the bad and is always ready to give back when they receive.
“If you are a leader that is focused on people then you are going to move them by your optimism each and every day,” he said. “Attitude can affect people in a very negative or in a very positive way.”
Hillier was chief of defence between 2005 and July 2008